Pelosi fails to wear mask properly despite her calls for national mandate
Pelosi called Trump 'cowardly' for not wearing a mask
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said Sunday that a federal face mask mandate is “long overdue," but she isn’t properly wearing a mask herself in multiple pictures featured on her House website and social media.
Pelosi chastised President Trump Sunday for not wearing a mask during the coronavirus pandemic and said the Centers for Disease Control hasn’t issued a national mandate “because they don't want to offend the president.”
“The president should be an example. Real men wear masks, be an example to the country, wear a mask,” she said in an interview with ABC’s “This Week.”
But as first reported by the Washington Times, Pelosi features a picture of herself from this month on her House page with a mask on but not totally covering her face.
Pelosi presented a flag that had flown over the U.S. Capitol to the brother of George Floyd, Philonise Floyd, in a June 10 meeting. In the photo, she can be seen with a mask only covering her bottom lip, but the three other men are all wearing full face coverings. Another photo on her social media shows her at the same meeting with her mask down on her chin.
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Pelosi's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden has also criticized Trump for not wearing a mask and said last week that he “would do everything possible to make it required the people had to wear masks in public.”
Trump’s refusal to wear a mask and Pelosi’s failure to wear a mask properly come as there is a growing body of evidence that face masks can massively reduce the spread of coronavirus.
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A study last month from UK researchers concluded that by wearing face masks and physically distancing the economy can safely reopen.
Last week, the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington projected that if 95 percent of Americans wore masks in public deaths could be reduced by 33,000.
Trump has never been pictured with a mask and told the Wall Street Journal earlier this month he thinks they are a “double-edged sword” because people will get too comfortable and let their guard down while wearing them. White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said Monday that the president thinks it is everyone's "personal choice" to wear a mask or not.
This goes against the advice of Trump's own CDC, which recommends that people wear face masks in public, especially when other physical distancing measures are difficult.
Other top Republican leaders have been advocating for face masks, though, including Vice President Mike Pence and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.
Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale previewed Trump-branded face masks last month that he said would be “coming soon,” but there still aren’t any for sale in the Trump campaign store.
Most people do support wearing face masks. Eighty percent of Americans have a favorable view of mask-wearers, according to a Fox News poll earlier this month. That includes 89 percent of Democrats and 68 percent of Republicans.